Top Chef has certainly played a huge role in shaping Carla Hall's career. The Season 5 cheftestant quickly won fans over with her over-the-top personality, soulful food, and goofy catchphrase, "Hootie hoo!" She's now the proud owner of Carla Hall's Southern Kitchen, a fried chicken and sides restaurant in Brooklyn, NY, and gets to cut loose every weekday with BFFs like Mario Batali and Michael Symon as a co-host on The Chew.

Even though she's come into her own, Carla will always have a lot of love for Top Chef. "It feels like a family and a fraternity," she said during a recent interview with The Feast. In fact, Carla—who was cooking alongside Top Chef Season 14's Sheldon Simeon at the James Beard House—noted that she made it a priority to participate in the dinner. "My schedule is crazy, but I cleared it for this, to sort of celebrate Sheldon," she said.

Top Chef has not only had an impact on Carla's career, but on the food world at large. "I love what the show…has done for the home cook, and for the diners…and making them a little more sophisticated when they go out to eat, and celebrating these chefs, wherever they are, be it in middle America or along the coast. I think it's been incredible," she declared.

So does that mean Carla would consider returning to the show? Doesn't she miss all the drama? "No," she stated definitively, laughing. "I don't like to compete with food."

Oh, well. Our loss.

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